Most diabetics in Argentina do not know they are ill
Reported November 12, 2008
The Interdisciplinary Diabetes Forum (FID) informed that the disease affects 8.5 percent of the adult population in Argentina, which is equivalent to 2 million people, and 50 percent of those are unaware they are ill. Meanwhile, between 20 and 30 percent know they suffer from it, but do not receive treatment. Obesity, on the other hand, is responsible for 70 percent of the risk of developing diabetes.
The FID, which gathers specialists of different areas of medicine and investigation fields on diabetes and related diseases, presented a document on the primary prevention of diabetes type 2 and the actual state of knowledge in the country in order to face the illness.
The date offered during the medical meeting developed with the intention of commemorating this Saturday the World Diabetes day indicated that in Argentina the disease affects 8.5 percent of the adult population, but 50 percent of those are unaware of their illness due to the fact that they do not consult with a doctor and because the disease is asymptomatic. Meanwhile, betweent 20 to 30 pecent of those who are aware do not receive any treatment.
Juan José Gagliardino, the forum’s coordinator and a medical investigator for Conicet, said that “diabetes is not only the blood’s sugar level; there are other factors involved, such as obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular problems.”
Gagliardino highlighted the importance of “not only treating the diabetic population, but also those pre-diabetic.”
In this way, he said there is a need for “people who are on the verge of developing it due to their obesity or family history can adopt measures to help avoid it.”
“Around 20 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes already have chronic complications and generally reach the diagnosis due to those complications,” he said.
Gagliardino considered that “the most important tool used to confront diabetes is a change of lifestyle that goes beyond medication and knowing on time if one can get the disease.”
He also reiterated the importance of “maintaining an adequate weight and carrying out physical activity, which can include a daily 20 minute walk, as measures that can help control and possibly prevent” the surge of sugar in the bloodstream.
The Buenos Aires province Health Minister Claudio Zin and his Buenos Aires City counterpart, Jorge Lemus, received during the meeting a donation from Sanofi group of 2,500 treatments with insulin for one year for diabetic patients type 1 in every district.
Patients with diabetes type 1 need insulin applications in order to normalise glucose levels, while those who have type 2 can survive with a good diet and medication.
Zin agreed that “there are many patients that don’t know they are diabetic and find out when complications appear” and he called to “combat the appearance of magic cures such as healing with stem cells, which today doesn’t exist for diabetes.”
Lemus said that “in the City more than 20 percent of the population is over 65 years old, which means there are more complications, most of the due to diabetes, which can be treated and prevented if caught on time.”
Experts and authorities from the French Embassy in Argentina, who collaborated in the forum’s investigations, participated in the event. Their objective is to help improve health policies for the control of diabetes.